What is the difference between an Au Pair and a Nanny?

Even though both Nannies and Au Pairs take care of children, their roles are different. While a Nanny is an employee who earns a regular salary for their work, an Au Pair is a partcipant of a cultural exchange program. Au Pairs stay with the Host Family, share meals with them, and receive pocket money rather than a wage. This arrangement emphasizes cultural exchange and integration into family life. In this post we will explain in detail what's the difference between a Nanny and an Au Pair.

So, what's the difference between an Au Pair and a nanny? An Au Pair is defined as a young person (between the ages of 18-30), who goes abroad to live with a Host family and learn (or perfect) a language in exchange for providing childcare. Au Pairs should be provided with a personal room, meals and pocket money. Meanwhile, a nanny is a professional childcare provider. She is officially employed and receives a salary as in any other job.

Video: Differences Between a Nanny and an Au Pair?

In the following video, Charlotte from AuPair.com explains the differences between an Au pair and a nanny.

Up to this day, there is no official “Nanny abroad” or “Live in Nanny” program. Nevertheless, it is possible to hire a nanny under a regular job contract (instead of the Au Pair contract). Families that are willing to hire a nanny must take into consideration that in most countries no visas are issued for this job.

au pair vs nanny

There are several differences between an Au Pair and a live in nanny. In reality, they do not have so much in common besides the area of activity: childcare. In order to make it clear for our Host Families, we have made a comparison list.

Differences between a live-in nanny and an Au Pair

	Au Pair	Live-in nanny
Age	Has a specific age barrier for each country.	Does not have any age barrier. He/she can be hired at any age.
Working hours	Has a maximum permitted working hours per week in each country. This must be respected by the Host Family.	Working hours are agreed with the family and regulated by the host country's labor law.
Cultural exchange aspect	The Au Pair participates in a cultural exchange program and must come from a different country or have a different nationality than at least one of the host parents.	Hiring a nanny does not normally involve a cultural exchange.
Salary	An Au Pair receives pocket money from the Host Family.	A nanny is paid a salary that should at least match the minimum wage of the country.
Language course	An Au Pair must have the possibility to attend a language course.	A nanny does not need to attend a language course.
Relation with family	An Au Pair is seen as a temporary family member.	A nanny is perceived as an employee.
Visa and work permit	In many cases, Au Pairs need a visa. Many countries offer a specific Au Pair visa.	A nanny coming from abroad may need a work permit or visa. He/she is not allowed to work with an Au Pair visa. Please get in touch with the embassy in order to learn more.
Duties and responsibilities	Duties and responsibilities of an Au Pair are strictly related to childcare and light domestic work around the children's area.	Nanny's duties and responsibilities depend on the agreement between the nanny and her/his employer.

Free Registration as Candidate

How can an Au Pair get a visa?: AuPair.com is an online matching agency, therefore this question is beyond our scope of responsibility. But we will do our best to help you nonetheless! Usually the best source of information is the embassy of the host country placed in the Au Pair’s homeland. Requirements vary depending on both the Au Pair’s nationality and the host country, but usually a letter of invitation from the Host Family and a signed contract are needed to start the visa application. Other documents may be different depending on each individual case, and in case of the US, assistance of a local full-service Au Pair agency is also necessary.

Can you help me with the paperwork and the placement process?: Unfortunately, we can’t help you with it. We are an online matching agency, thus we can’t interfere in your searching or placing process. We are happy to provide you with all our searching and matching tools and the information about the Au Pair experience. As our platform is available worldwide, we are unable to take care of all the applications we get daily. Feel free to use our service to visit your dream destination and find a great Host Family. We will be also glad to get your feedback! If you have any ideas or comments, get in touch with us.

How long does it take to find an Au Pair?: It depends on several factors. Make sure your profile is full and interesting for other users. Make sure that you meet the Host Family requirements set by the Au Pair program. Be active and contact about 10-15 Au Pairs per day. If you follow the three tips above you can find a suitable match within one to four weeks. Check out our Host Family guide for more advice and ideas on how to find an Au Pair faster.

How to become an Au Pair/Caregiver/Nanny?

AuPair.com is an online matching agency, where Au Pairs/Nannies/Caregivers and Host Families can find each other. Please note that we are not a full service agency. We can't directly take part in the exchange arrangement process; you should contact your ideal host family on your own!

To become an Au Pair/Caregiver/Nanny at AuPair.com you can:

register and create the profile - click here to enter our registration form.
customize your profile, adding relevant pictures, videos and references - your offer will be displayed to all members of the service as long as you wish.
search for Host Families and send them a request. You can either send them an invitation to contact you back, or add them to your hotlist. In both cases the family will get a mail notification at once.

If the Host Family is Premium, it will be able to contact you back and exchange with you contact details, in order to arrange the whole stay. In this case you don't need to pay anything and you can use AuPair.com for free.

If you become a Premium Member, you will be able to contact everyone - you don't need to wait until Host Family writes you back.

If you are interested in Au Pair programs in specific countries, please find here detailed description of their Au Pair programs.

AuPair Wiki, with all the details regarding the Au Pair program in general, may be found here. Learn more about Caregiver and Nanny.

How to find a family?: Once you are signed in as a candidate, you can start searching for Host Families in different countries. The platform gives you the opportunity to browse families that match your preferences and destinations. In addition to AuPair.com's suggestions, you can add other families to your Favorites. This way you will have a selected list of users you are interested in. Each added family will receive a notification.

You can also send free requests to Host Families of your choice. They will receive your application and can accept or deny your profile. Try to get in touch with 20-30 families per day to speed up the matching process and shortlist the most suitable options. If you reach 100% in your activity level, you can see which Host Families are Premium.

I am looking for a family looking for a babysitter.: You can register on our website and select the jobs you are looking for. Anyway, you should know that we are not a full service agency. AuPair.com is an online matching agency. We can't directly take part in the exchange arrangement process. However, we can help you with useful information, like requirements for being an au pair or a host family, the age required to be an au pair or Nanny, costs for Au Pairs and host families, and more.

AuPair.com offers you a platform to get to know each other, we offer you thousands of candidates and families; however, you should contact your ideal candidate or host family on your own!

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